Arkansas Department of Health Hospice provides in-home and in-nursing home care to individuals with a terminal illness and their families in the surrounding areas.

Yell County has two administrative offices — one at the health department in Danville and one at the health department in Dardanelle — which provide assistance to residents in Yell, Pope, Johnson, Logan, Scott, Conway, Perry and Faulkner counties.

Volunteer coordinator Glenda Luter said hospice provides a “basket” of services which each patient and family can personalize to meet individualized needs.

“We provide a registered nurse who can help them and their personal care giver understand the illness,” Luter said. “We provide any hospital equipment that might be needed and a personal care aide who is available for a few hours each day to assist with bathing, light cooking and house keeping.”

Luter said aside from the medical components, hospice provides spirituality and a personal connection to the patient and family.

In order to qualify for hospice, a patient must be diagnosed by a physician with a terminal illness or limited life expectancy of six months or less, no longer take any type of curative medicines or treatment, want to remain at the current residence and have a physician to cover the 24-hour care.

“Our main goal at hospice to help the family with the grieving process and help the patient to remain comfortable,” Luter said. “We don’t push religion, but we are the only program mandated by the government to offer spirituality. A social worker has what we refer to as the little blue book to give to families at the appropriate time to help guide them through the dying process.”

Luter said there is also a bereavement program that meets monthly at the administrative office to provide a monthly support group for families. Community volunteers are a vital component of hospice. Volunteers give assistance to families that need extra support and provide respite care for caregivers.

Hospice also has a home maintenance team that constructs wheelchair ramps at homes and makes minor repairs. Luter said people traditionally think of hospice as coming to homes, which is true, but hospice also provides care to patients in nursing homes.

“Because so much of what we do is preparing the patient and family for the dying process,” Luter said, “we are able to offer assistance to patients in nursing homes who are diagnosed with terminal illnesses. I really consider it a privilege and an honor to be invited into people’s lives during one of life’s most difficult times. I’ve made a lot of great friends since I joined hospice in 1992 and have so many special memories of patients and their families.”

J.D. Bailey of Dardanelle has been with hospice for three months and he and his son, Terry Bailey, have worked with hospice in the past in Texas and with the local unit in Dardanelle.

Terry Bailey said the care his mother-in-law received when she was ill and the care his dad is currently receiving are head and shoulders above the care his mother and stepmother received in Texas.

“This program is the best I’ve ever seen,” Terry Bailey said. “I just can’t explain how grateful we are. They have treated my dad just like family. It’s only been three months, but we do consider them part of our family too.”

J.D. Bailey said, while he hopes the good Lord will allow him more time on this earth, he is grateful for the hospice program and his time spent with Luter and the other workers.